THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD is wracked with infighting over a planned strike-authorization vote. The schism has split SAG's high-profile members in a way that few can recall. "They've got a mutiny of stars, and SAG leadership cannot stand up to a mutiny of the stars," said David Prindle, author of "The Politics of Glamour," a well regarded history of the union.

PAKISTAN: Mullah Fazlullah ordered 43 political and tribal leaders to stand trial in front of a Taliban court in Swat.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Paul Blart: Mall Cop repeats atop the b.o. with another 21.5 million, reminding everyone it's January. The Underworld flick had to settle for second -- 20 million against a 35 million production budget isn't bad, though the two prior installments tended not to have legs. Gran Torino drops to third -- it will cross the 100 million mark this week and be Clint's biggest grosser in unadjusted dollars. Hotel For Dogs moved up to fourth place, but hasn't made even half of its production budget yet. Slumdog Millionaire leaps up to round out the Top Five; it's 56 million total to date far exceeds its 15 million production budget. Below the fold, Inkheart debuted in seventh place, doing better overseas than in the US.

JOHN TRAVOLTA & KELLY PRESTON: Two prominent Bahamian citizens and a paramedic were detained in the Bahamas in an alleged extortion scheme targeting John Travolta following the death of his son, according to reports. One, Obie Wilchcombe, the island's former Minister of Tourism and a friend of the Travoltas, was also arrested but later released, according to TMZ.com.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Rampaging squirrels are attacking nurses on their way to work in County Durham, meaning health chiefs have been forced to give advice to their employees to protect them from the animals.

TWO HORSES tested positive for an equine venereal disease in Wisconsin. So many punchlines, so little time.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE: "My Girls" is the first video from Merriweather Post Pavillion.

MAVIS STAPLES has a mini-set streaming on demand via the World Cafe and NPR.

PREVIOUSLY ON LOST is exactly what the name implies: A recap band. Through short spurts of musical whimsy, the island aficionados summarize the week's plot, focusing on themes and characters that are especially entertaining. And you can stream a few, though there may be spoilers for those not caught up.

CUTOUT BIN: From Prince to Art Brut, from Frankie Valli to Buzzcocks, from The Sonics to Queen, from Ian Dury & the Blockheads to Gladys Knight & the Pips, plus Eels, the Rave-Ups, Devo, The Donnas and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

OSCAR NOMINEES are here. There's analysis of the races anjd the snubs at The Envelope and the Gold Derby. The Dark Knight was robbed, natch. Some are surprised by that; I'm not. The Best Picture nominee that is the biggest hit often wins. Thus, had The Dark Knight been nominated, it would have been favored to win. And Hollywood is far too self-important to give its top award to Batman... so no nomination.

PETER FALK's wife is opposing a bid by the Emmy-winning actor's daughter to place him under a conservatorship.

THE WRESTLER is essentially the anti-Rocky, a portrait of what happens to a pro wrestler 20 years on from the height of fame. Mickey Rourke deserves the accolades he is getting for his lead performance; Marisa Tomei is also good, generally transcending the stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold role that would have really stuck out as a cliche in a lesser movie. Evan Rachel Wood sadly fails to to lift her game in her role as the wrestler's daughter. The screenplay is very good, though marred slightly by the inclusion of a climactic speech which makes unduly explicit what the viewer already should know.

VILLAGE VOICE PAZZ & JOP POLL 2008: The ol' grey mare ain't what she used to be but still worth a gander.

OF MONTREAL: You can stream and download the band's almost all-covers NYE set at the 40 Watt via YANP. The selections range from Aerosmith to the Jesus and Mary Chain to Katrina and the Waves to Buzzcocks to Donna Summer and more...

DARK WAS THE NIGHT, an upcoming charity double-disc, is streaming a track a day through Feb1. I managed to miss the new The National track, but there will be something to surprise all of us today.

IRON MAN 2: CHUD tries to sort out the casting rumors surrounding what is shaping up as a potentially over-stuffed sequel. Meanwhile, it appears that Marvel is continuing to lowball actors for this and other projects. Hey, if you didn't stuff a zillion characters into a movie, you could pay each actor more money.